something from nothing
by chocolate crazed lunatic
Summary: Naruto is sent to the past just as everything is supposed to come to an end. She ends up finding a home and a family there anyway. fem!naruto/fem!kakashi
1. not quite the end

Story: something from nothing

Author: chocolate crazed lunatic

Rating: T

Genre: Adventure, romance, family, and friendship

Chapter: Not Quite the End

Warning: genderbent characters, gay relationships, fights, trauma

Pairings: Fem!Kakashi/future!fem!Naruto, Naruto/Hinata, Ino/Sakura, Karin/Sai, Asuma/Kurenai, Shizune/Ayame

Author's Note: I'm so bad at keeping up with my stories, yet here I am, sending out yet another fanfic into the void. But hey! This one, at the very least, I planned out. So maybe I'll make it past more than five chapters before I wonder where the hell I'm going with it. Anyways, I may have it planned but I've only finished the first chapter and like maybe half way through the second? I'm trying to go for an update every two weeks, but I dunno how long that's going to last. The first chapter is going to be shorter than the rest of the chapters, sorry guys. It's cross posted on archive of our own.

Summary: Naruto is sent to another dimension just as everything is supposed to come to an end, but ends up finding a home and a family there anyways.

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.

* * *

Time travel is impossible. Dimension travel, however, was a completely different matter. It required a powerful ninja to use space-time jutsus, and an even more powerful one to reach different dimensions, usually aided with the help of a Kekkei Genkai. These different dimensions were not complex, for no ninja could possibly hold enough power to send another to a separate world with other life forms, other humans, systems, and history.

No human could do it. A goddess, on the other hand…

The alternate dimension was strange, a place unlike that Naruto had ever seen before. Everything down to the feel of the chakra in the air was different. Trapped here with the other members of team seven was a small comfort in the face of the enormity of their task. But Naruto didn't have time to dwell on the strangeness of the alternate dimension, she wouldn't allow herself to think of anything but the fight currently happening.

Power thrummed in her veins, her heart thundered so loudly it was a wonder it wasn't echoing across the dimension they were trapped in.

It was going to end. One way or another, it would soon be over. All those years of training, desperation, the losses, the fear of being hunted and killed has all lead up to this moment; Kaguya.

Naruto had never been one to fear the outcome of a fight, had always held steadfast in her confidence that she would come out the victor and enough stubbornness that the confidence wasn't misplaced. This fight was different. Her confidence and stubbornness were in full swing, yet thoughts of what would happen if they didn't succeed wouldn't leave her. If team seven lost this mission, then everything she loved, everything she fought for would all mean nothing. The world would end as she knew it.

But everything had to go ignored in favour of the task at hand; she and Sasuke were in position, were prepared to seal Kaguya away to make sure that she could never again escape.

Kaguya's pale eyes landed on Naruto, rage, and a new purpose now that her old one had been determined obsolete held in them. Kaguya had been waiting, trapped for thousands upon thousands of years, yet these inferior creatures, these terrible ninjas who had stolen her chakra all those years ago dared to imprison her again. Her face was curled in a snarl. She knew, instinctively, that the golden one (the worst one, the one that motivated the others; without that one, none of them would have had a hope) suffered the same loneliness that she had when she had been sealed. And she knew that the people she was fighting with now were the ones who chased that loneliness away. And she could see that that determined little brats eyes how desperate she was to protect them from her, how much she desired for the war to end, for peace to reign. Kaguya had a trick up her sleeve, and she may have been defeated, but Kaguya knew that taking everything away from the golden one would destroy her.

Kaguya laughed hollowly, the sound sending shivers down Naruto's spine, and dread curled in her stomach. "You may have beaten me once," she allowed. "But I can still crush you."

Reality seemed to warp around Naruto, everything besides Kaguya's cruel eyes blurring until she could no longer make sense of anything. Kurama roared in her head, furious but terrified at the same time. She heard the panicked cries of her teammates calling her name, and her heart beat ever faster, fear making her stomach churn. This was not supposed to happen! They had her! She was supposed to be sealed away not do… whatever it was that she was doing!

And suddenly it all stopped. Kurama's voice, the feeling of his chakra running through her, abruptly cut off, her teammate's voices faded, and the disorientation of whatever Kaguya was doing to her fell away. The after image of Kaguya's eyes, with their terrible satisfaction, was the only thing she saw for a moment before everything else registered.

The first thing that she noticed was that she was in the Hokage's office. The second was that she was in the presence of two people, both of them with weapons drawn.

Naruto carefully took stock of her situation, cautious and on edge. Kaguya, notorious for creating alternate dimensions, had done something to her the moment she and Sasuke were about to seal her. She had appeared lying flat on the floor in the Hokage's office, in the company of the Third (who should be dead, but in a war where the Impure World Reincarnation was used liberally, that didn't mean much), and what appeared to be a female Kakashi (no ANBU hiding in the shadows, she automatically noted. They must have been discussing top secret information). They were both in defensive positions, prepared to use deadly force against her should it be necessary.

Next, she assessed her vitals. Her chakra, which had been slowly dwindling down during the fight, was replenished and seemed to be even more immense than ever before. She did not seem to be wounded, however, that could do with a more thorough checking over once she was out of any danger. She was exhausted from all those hours of battle and exhaustion made for sloppiness, and both Not-Kakashi and the dead Hokage were fresh and ready to fight. If worse came down to worse, she could probably take them if she took out Not-Kakashi before she uncovered her Sharingan and Sarutobi before he summoned any of his monkeys. She knew she wouldn't be able to beat them both, but she would be able to escape.

Worst of all, Kurama's presence was missing from where she could usually feel the comfort of his chakra, hear the dark rumble of his growl. It was enough to send a flare of panic through her, but she forced herself to calm down. This wasn't the time or the place to get worked up over Kurama's absence.

Sarutobi's voice was polite with an underlying hint of steel when he asked her, "My, you look quite the mess. How did you find your way here?"

The familiar voice sent a wave of nostalgic sadness through her, reminding her of her youth when her pseudo grandfather would take her out for ramen, or would lecture her on the importance of not skipping classes, or would scold her for another prank with laughter in his eyes. She had forgotten, too busy with the war, with surviving, just how much she had missed the old man.

Naruto slowly started to sit up, her hands far apart and away from her kunai pouches to try to she wasn't a threat. She bit her lip worriedly, a tell that she had been trying to get rid of for ages with no success.

The weird Not-Kakashi shifted nearly imperceptibly, clutching her kunai tighter, her one dark eye narrowed at Naruto's rather vulnerable form. The girl had yet to say anything, but the way she regarded Naruto spoke for how prepared she was to kill her if she even put a toe out of line.

Naruto's mind raced through possibilities, discarding one after the other before reaching a conclusion. She searched desperately in the faces of Not-Kakashi, who (although it was hard to tell with two-thirds of her face being covered) looked to be in her late teens or early twenties, and the man who had been like a grandfather in her youth. Neither had a hint of recognition in their eyes. She had grown used to the fondness that Kakashi-sensei regarded her with that it hurt to see it disappear, even if Not-Kakashi seemed very different. And Sarutobi… he had never looked at her with anything but a grandfatherly love in his eyes, so seeing him now, looking like for all the world like the God of Ninja that he was titled was shocking to her system.

As a desperate last ditch attempt, she fluctuated her chakra. Nothing changed, so it either wasn't a genjutsu, it wasn't one that Naruto could break, or her first hunch was right.

Naruto thought through her next words carefully. "Fuck," she breathed, then throws her tentative plans for a very convincing speech that said everything but gave no real information out the window. She was never good at those things, left it up to Kakashi-sensei or Shikamaru, or anybody else with a lick of sense. But her friends weren't here now, and it was up to her. She held back the urge to sob, but only just. "Jiji, you're never going to believe the story that I've got to tell you."


	2. taking away

Story: something from nothing

Author: chocolate crazed lunatic

Rating: T

Genre: Adventure, romance, family, and friendship

Chapter: taking away

Warning: genderbent characters, gay relationships, fights, trauma

Pairings: Fem!Kakashi/future!fem!Naruto, Naruto/Hinata, Ino/Sakura, Karin/Sai, Asuma/Kurenai, Shizune/Ayame

Author's Note: hey pals! here comes chapter two, a day before schedule b/c im going away tonight but ill be back on tuesday. in this chapter theres gonna be some talk about whats going to happen in the next bunch of chapters. thanks for the follows, favourites and the reviews! ily guys! also sorry that i made sarutobi kinda a dick, but he's the hokage and he can't be nice all the time. and i promised longer chapters, so here u go! imma try to keep at least 10 pages on google docs for how long each chapter is. i hoped u guys liked this chapter and i'll be posting chappy three in two weeks!

Summary: Naruto is sent to another dimension just as everything is supposed to come to an end, but ends up finding a home and a family there anyways.

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.

* * *

It starts with Naruto blurting out, with her usual lack of tact, "I'm from an alternate dimension that seems to be several years more advanced than this one."

Several things had lead up to her coming to this conclusion. How much younger Not-Kakashi looked, for one. Then there was fact that the Sandaime was alive. The thought of the Hokage had lead her to look at the Hokage Mountain, which only held four faces, not the five that Naruto had grown used to. Slight differences that she could spot around the office, things that were missing. The scorch mark from when she had learned her first katon jutsu and had been dying to show it to Hokage-jiji was no longer in the carpet, the slightly different colour of that one section of the wall was absent from that time Baa-chan punched Ero-sennin straight through it and they couldn't find the exact colour of paint… little things that had built up over time but made all the difference.

Of course, the calendar hanging on the wall had certainly helped her by prominently proclaiming the date. Her alternate dimension self would be six now, Not-Kakashi would be 20.

Naruto had some experience with alternate dimensions, or at least believing that she was in one, from that time Obito had trapped her and Sakura in the Genjutsu World. It was odd, a little heartbreaking and terrifying, but mostly it was something that she learned a lot from. She wondered if this would turn out to be anything like that situation, but she doubted it. Sakura had been with her throughout that time, but now she didn't have anybody from her own world to rely on.

She's been weaving the story of her dimension for what feels like hours now. She starts off with the tale of Kaguya and her sons, how Zetsu survived to manipulate key events throughout shinobi history. Madara's survival is next, which snowballs to how the man saved Obito from the rocks. It hurts her, an ache in her heart, to see the poorly constrained emotions flitting across Not-Kakashi's face. She tells them truth after truth, things that happened underneath the underneath until she gets to current events, things that she took part in. There was some omission there, partly because there were just things that they didn't necessarily need to know, and partly because there were things that she wanted to keep similar to her timeline as she could.

It feels like a really long and boring history lesson from her years at the academy, but this time she's playing the role of Iruka. The disbelief that Not-Kakashi's and Sarutobi's shared melted away a while ago, something that she knew they held despite the fact that they never spoke a word as she spoke. Now though - now they hold contemplation, and Naruto knows that her words are getting to them.

Not-Kakashi speaks up, her voice much higher pitched than Kakashi-sensei's, sharp and without the uncaring laziness weighing down her words. "And you expect us to just believe this without any proof?"

Naruto carefully hides a grin, because this is what she had been leading up to for a while. She could give them proof. "You'll have proof. It's June, six years after the Kyuubi attack," she nodded at the calendar on the wall. "The Uchiha Massacre that I've told you about happens in July. You can stop it from happening. The way my plan works, if I'm not telling the truth there's no harm done. But if I am, you'll have prevented one of the biggest shit shows that absolutely fucked up my dimension."

The Hokage examined her thoughtfully, and ignoring Not-Kakashi's sharp look, asked, "And if we were to place faith in your words, how exactly would you have us go about preventing the massacre?"

Relief washed through her, and she had never been good at keeping her emotions off her face but she tries her hardest this time. From the vaguely cross look Not-Kakashi's giving her, it didn't work. She had the strange feeling that Not-Kakashi was showing the most emotion that she had in a long, long time. She wanted to write it off, but Naruto had grown strangely adept at reading people, a skill that had been instrumental to helping her win people over in the past few years.

"It's easy," Naruto said, matter of fact and professional. She had done research on the massacre because it was endlessly complicated and she had to get it right for Sasuke. She had thought about what she would do that night, and now that she has a chance to fix it, she knows just what to do. "Contact Uchiha Itachi. Danzo's plans are already in motion, he's already playing his manipulation game with the kid," and isn't that a strange thought, Itachi, who had always been an unbeatable figure in her life was a prepubescent boy. It was almost enough to make her laugh, but she'd save that for witnessing his voice cracks. She continues relaying her plan to them, shaking off the amusement she feels at the thought of solemn Itachi, 13 years old and his voice cracking. "But if you warn him in time, it should prevent him from going along with Danzo's plan. Even so, you should tell him to continue on like he knows nothing, give him guidelines on how you expect him to behave based off what he did in my dimension."

"And just why should we do that?" Not-Kakashi questions impatiently. It hurts Naruto that Kakashi is being like this, so distrustful of her. She knew that Kakashi-sensei was one of the most suspicious men she had ever met, knew it to be one of the reasons that he was such a high ranking shinobi. It was upsetting that it was directed at her, who she knew to be one of his precious people, just as he had been one of hers. She longs for her laidback teacher to be in her place, but then ignores it. This Kakashi is just 20 years old, a mere three years older than Naruto's almost 17. She hasn't yet had the time to grow into the man that Naruto knew and trusted with her life.

"Because," she declares dramatically, faintly hating herself for doing this to Not-Kakashi. "We are going to lay a trap for Obito."

She watches as a wince crosses Not-Kakashi's features before she adorns an apathetic mask and feels a pang of sympathy for the girl. Naruto knows better than most the pain of having a best friend be a traitor. At least Not-Kakashi knows that Obito repented in the end, put his precious people before his insane plans. But Sasuke… Naruto is still unsure where Sasuke stands. She has a funny feeling that after Kaguya was sealed, Sasuke would go back to being the teme he was and try to go off on his own again.

She wonders what she would be doing now, if she had been in her own dimension. Running after Sasuke for, what she was sure would be, the very last time? Celebrating the end of the war with her friends? She hopes that Sasuke isn't pulling some stupid stunt, that her disappearance and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei presence would be enough to deter him. She shakes this train of thought off and firmly tells herself to go back to it later.

"As I told you, Itachi contacts Obito when he sees him in the village, believing him to be Madara. He asks for help with the massacre of his clan and Obito agrees to help. If Itachi does the same thing, we know where Obito will be and we can pull a surprise attack," she finishes off. Naruto had never been good at strategy, was better at making plans on the fly, so having this to offer is something she's proud of. The benefit, she supposes, of researching that one night to better her understanding of Sasuke. "Get Jiraiya here, get him to make a seal that cuts off all access to chakra. When we attack Obito, we'll slap it on him. He'll be useless without his chakra; the majority of his techniques are dependant on it. Though it wouldn't do to underestimate his taijutsu, with preparation he will definitely be manageable."

"That seems plausible," Sarutobi allows. "However there are still many questions that have been left unanswered."

Naruto knows that's the signal that now's the time for the interrogation. Sarutobi seems content enough to allow Not-Kakashi to ask the questions, to observe and come to conclusions of his own based on her answers, but Naruto had no doubt that he would jump in the second he felt she was keeping something from them. Kakashi had never worked in TI, but with the way she was eyeing Naruto made her feel like she was one of Ibiki's suspects.

"What village are you from?" Not-Kakashi questions immediately.

Naruto doesn't bother to call the question stupid, even though it totally is. Instead, she points a thumb at her Hitai-ate and exclaims, "Konoha, born and raised!"

"What are your intentions towards Konoha?" Not-Kakashi fires her next question off.

"To keep it safe and to protect it from those who mean it and its people harm," Naruto answers earnestly. "I love this village."

"What are you going to do now that you're in this dimension? If you're telling the truth that is," the last part is tacked on, muttered underneath her breath. Naruto doesn't bother to take offence, even though she feels a familiar rush of affronted anger.

"I'm going to put an end to the Akatsuki to protect my precious people and bring peace," Naruto answers determinedly. She didn't mention anything more about breaking the cycle of hatred and bringing peace to shinobi because while Kakashi had never been anything but supportive of her goals, he had always had a faint air of cynic disbelief when she spoke of it. She doubted it would be any different now.

On and on, Not-Kakashi spewed question after question with minimal input from Sarutobi. Finally, the older girl lost her patience.

"You didn't even tell us who you are," Not-Kakashi hisses, frustrated with Naruto's easy answering of her every question. "Why should we trust you?"

And yeah, ok, maybe Naruto gave an overview of what happened during the war without actually mentioning what part she took in it. Because she knew claiming to be her tiny little six year old self would colour both Sarutobi's and Not-Kakashi's view of herself, doubtlessly not in a positive manner. There are only so many shocks they can get in such little time, and the fact that the little girl they both know is now roughly ten years older and standing in front of them will probably be a little much.

But then again, the both of them are supposed to be two of the sharpest minds in Konoha, and Naruto's looks haven't changed much since she was a kid. She's grown, sure, but her hair is still the same bright blonde, her eyes still the same blue, her whisker marks still there. She's even wearing her trademark bright orange. It would take a fool to mistake her for anybody else, and neither Sarutobi or Kakashi are fools, even if it is an alternate dimension.

She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I totally forgot. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!"

Their eyes widen, shock passing over their features for a fraction of a second before it is under wraps. And that should be that, because the similarities are impossible to refute. But then Not-Kakashi snorts, and says, "And now we know you're lying. Couldn't you have gotten the gender right, if not the colouring?"

Naruto frowns, confused. She wasn't too surprised over the differences in gender, after all Kakashi was female in this universe. But colouring? The Naruto from this universe must have inherited their mother's red hair and purple eyes for some reason.

But something makes Naruto glance at her reflection in the window, be it instincts or curiosity, trying to imagine herself with her mother's features, and in her reflection she sees something that she is not expecting. No blonde hair, no blue eyes but instead.

Instead her eyes were red, the exact same shade they went when Kurama's chakra was running through her system. And her hair was orange, the exact same shade as -

"Kurama," the name slips past her lips without permission. Her voice trembled as she said it, choked with grief. She knew now, why her chakra reserves are suddenly so high, why all of the wounds sustained in the war are healed, why she could no longer feel his presence. Whatever Kaguya did to her must have merged Kurama's chakra with her own. Kurama was a being made from chakra; the merge would have killed him.

Naruto has been pushing her feelings away ever since Kaguya was released, but now it seems like they were all crashing down on her all at once. It was overwhelming, and as much as she tried, she couldn't stop the tears from pooling in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. She couldn't stop the ugly gasping breaths, but she pressed her hands to her mouth in a vain attempt to muffle the sobs.

Losing the chance of seeing her friends ever again was something that she could push back for when she is in the privacy to grieve. The death of one of her friends is entirely too much for her to handle, especially on top of everything else.

"Who is Kurama?" Not-Kakashi's voice is no less harsh than before, but Naruto didn't expect any less. Not-Kakashi had been a shinobi for years now; if she was deterred by a little crying, then she wouldn't be in the profession.

Naruto gives up on trying to muffle her cries, and instead wraps her arms around herself as a meager attempt at comfort. Kurama had been with her for her entire life, and only recently had they begun to have a functioning partnership. Kurama was her friend.

"The Kyuubi," Naruto says between sobs. "Kurama is gone and my friends are gone and everything I've ever worked for is gone and I'm all alone again."

Naruto has never done anything half way. She always puts her whole self into everything, and most times it's a blessing. Now, as her entire soul is crying out, is aching with grief for her lost friends, it's more a curse than anything else.

"Of course you would be first name basis with a demon, Naruto-san," Sarutobi finally speaks up, his voice layered with fondness that is only half forced. Anything to get the girl to stop crying. Naruto appreciates the thought of it, even if she notices he doesn't feel all of the fondness that he portrays. The polite suffix where in the past there was a fond one only served to make her feel worse.

What she wants right now is Sakura-chan in front of her, glaring the two shinobi down with her righteous anger, is Sasuke-teme's muttered, "Dobe," said a little less derisively than usually, is Kakashi-sensei's comforting hand on her shoulder even as he pretends to be immersed in his book. She wants her closest friends, her family, with her.

She doesn't get what she wants, instead she has Not-Kakashi as her eyes widen in protest at the trust extended to Naruto. "Hokage-sama, what are you-"

"I believe your story," he cuts in, "Farfetched though it may be. Or, at the very least, I believe in the possibility that what you're saying is the truth, and if it is, it would be extremely remiss if I were to not use our knowledge of the future to Konoha's benefit."

Naruto's desperate, gasping sobs have slowly dyed down, but her tears have not. So when she looks at the blurry figure of the third Hokage, the window behind him encasing him in a sort of glow, it reminds her of her lowest moments where she would imagine those precious to her waiting for her patiently in the pure lands, reaching for her and begging her to join them. Nevertheless, she chokes out a, "Thank you Jiji."

"Now, Naruto-san, dry your tears. It is the time to talk of strategy," Sarutobi declares.

Naruto lets out a miserable groan as Not-Kakashi grudgingly keeps her disapproval to herself.

First, they decide that Naruto cannot reveal herself as Uzumaki Naruto. There was already a Uzumaki Naruto in their dimension, and Naruto couldn't tell everybody she crossed paths with that she was from an alternate future dimension. No, instead they created somebody else for Naruto to pose as.

Next, they went on to deal with the issue of the Akatsuki. Slowly, Sarutobi coerces the strengths and weaknesses of the members of the Akatsuki out of Naruto. She haltingly explains each of them were defeated, pausing every once in awhile to try to recall any details she might have left out. It was difficult to describe how to beat some of them, as she hadn't fought them enough to get a sense of their fighting style. Zetsu was their main concern, even if they killed the rest of the Akatsuki and left him, he would simply manipulate events so that he could free her another time.

"The logical decision is to take them down before the organization causes any trouble," Sarutobi said, pursing his lips. "Obito will be taken care of when he attempts to massacre the Uchiha Clan, but they have other very powerful shinobi that need to be disposed of."

"I can take care of Nagato and Konan," Naruto says immediately. She didn't want casualties where she knew they weren't necessary, and she knew they would be killed if they didn't leave the Akatsuki. "I can convince them to back down. I'll do that right after we capture Obito 'cuz they're the leaders and without them the rest of them will be super disorganized and won't be able to retaliate with the effectiveness they did in my dimension."

Naruto wasn't a fool. She knew that there was a small likelihood that Obito would be allowed survive should they defeat him in a month's time. So she said slyly, "Obito has a unique skillset that would be super beneficial to Konoha. It'll take some time, but we can totally unbrainwash him, dattebayo!"

Let it never be said that Uzumaki Naruto was subtle.

Sarutobi studied her for a second, taking in her bullheaded conviction. "Very well," he allowed, and something in Kakashi's chest unclenched for the first time since the boulder fell on Obito. Hidden behind her mask, her lips twitched into a small, relieved smile.

"However," the Hokage said, and both women felt sudden apprehension. "Naruto-san, you are the one with the most experience with the Akatsuki. Even at this point when the organization is missing many members, it poses a threat. They are all S-rank shinobi and are known to work in teams of two. Naruto-san, Kakashi-san, I am assigning the both of you the mission of neutralizing the Akatsuki, you will leave after Obito apprehended."

"What? Why me?" Not-Kakashi demanded. "Hokage-sama, I believe my talents are more useful to the village if I remain in ANBU."

The Hokage sighs. "Kakashi-san, you know that you are one of the greatest shinobi that Konoha has ever produced. The missions that you took in ANBU were executed with precision that not many shinobi before you have accomplished, and I doubt many will have the abilities to replicate. However, this mission is too dangerous for Naruto-san to undertake on her own, and we cannot afford less powerful shinobi joining her. Moreover, the less people who know about Naruto-san's connection to the future, the better," meaning that there was a less likely chance for the intel to get to Danzo, who would ruthlessly take advantage of her. Naruto suppressed a shudder. "Am I understood, Kakashi-san?"

Not-Kakashi grudging mutters, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Not-Kakashi is sulking. Naruto knows it. Sarutobi knows it. Only one of them doesn't have enough balls to call her out on it.

"Come on, Not-Kakashi!" Naruto laughs. Her eyes are closed and a smile is stretched across her face. Neither shinobi can deny the resemblance to the Naruto that they know in that moment. Naruto is just glad because though it might be genuine at times, this particular smile is always a good way to hide any hurt that she might be feeling, like at this moment. It hurts, even more than she thought it would at first, that Not-Kakashi doesn't treat her with the same amount of trust that Kakashi-sensei treats her with. "We're going to have so much fun! Traveling, seeing the sights, getting to know each other. It'll be a great bonding exercise!"

"I'm not sulking." Not-Kakashi frowns, her one visible eyebrow furrowing and her eye narrowing into a glare. "What did you call me?"

"Naruto-san, it's not a vacation," Sarutobi says, trying to defuse the situation between the two. "Your mission is to destroy the Akatsuki."

Naruto just waves him off, nonchalant. The Akatsuki had been defeated before, so they had no reason to worry. "Yeah sure Jiji, me and Not-Kakashi are going to take out the small fry to prevent any chance of the Akatsuki. I got it."

"They're S-rank shinobi," Not-Kakashi says through gritted teeth. "They are not small fry. And stop calling me that!"

Sarutobi sighs as it escalates into a fight, but on the inside he is rather pleased. Naruto got reactions out of Kakashi in a way he hadn't seen since the night of the Kyuubi attack, even though these were more… extreme in a negative manner than those Minato and Kushina had produced. It would be good for the girl, he thought within the safety of his own mind, to be around Naruto, who seemed to be a living, breathing balm to emotional trauma.

Sarutobi cares for his shinobi, but as much as he wishes he could, he can't coddle them.

"Let's go over your backstory one more time, Naruto-san," he says above Naruto's cheerful taunts. "To make sure that you've remembered it."

"We've gone over it like a billion times," Naruto grumbles, ignoring Not-Kakashi's deadpan, "it's been two," with practiced ease. She feels a pang in her heart due to the similarity to Sai.

"My name is Uzumaki Michi," she begins, not a fumble around the name. She speaks it as if it is already her own, has always been her own. "I am a descendant of Kinaku of the Gold and Silver Brothers through my mother, which is why I have my whisker marks and why my chakra is demonic in nature. My father was an Uzumaki, the cousin of Uzumaki Kushina. I traveled with him and my mother for a while before they passed away when I was a young child. I continued to travel on my own, honing my skills and traveling from village to village before I eventually met Not-Kakashi. I decide to go back to Konoha with her. The return to Konoha will take place once we've completed our mission, of course."

"Stop calling me Not-Kakashi!" Not-Kakashi snaps at her, frustrated beyond words. She hadn't felt this wound up since the time that Obito and Gai teamed up to get her to spar with them.

Naruto ruthlessly squashes the urge to pull at her hair. They don't get it. "But you're not Kakashi!"

Not-Kakashi glares. "I am Kakashi."

"You're not my Kakashi," Naruto shouts at her, suddenly at her wits end. "That's not my Jiji! This isn't even my Konoha! And you're fucking lucky that I've decided to solve this dimension's problems instead of try to find a way to get me back home and solve my own!"

Both Sarutobi and Not-Kakashi falter at this.

Naruto lets out a sharp breath. "Sorry," she says shortly. "It has been a long day."

Every fiber of her being is burning for her to jump out the window, or walk out the door or do basically anything to get out of the building. She's embarrassed and she hates the fact that her entire identity has been changed - even her name and her appearance, which for the longest time were the only thing she had left from her parents. It's eating away at her, even though she knows that it's for the best.

"Kakashi-san, take Naruto-san to the secure rooms in the basement of the tower. There is no need for anybody in Konoha to be aware of her presence," at Sarutobi's command, Not-Kakashi sinks to one knee, uttering a small, "Hokage-sama," in deference to his leadership. She raises and waits by the doors for Naruto to follow her.

She has been wiped of all emotion, of the distrust that she feels for Naruto, of the apprehension she feels for Sarutobi's plans. Naruto finds the cold blank slate that she is currently in absolutely detestable. Not-Kakashi had emotions, she had just spent a few hours witnessing her rage, her helplessness, her frustration. Naruto didn't know why she had to force them all back, present herself as nothing more than a tool. Because she knew that was what Not-Kakashi was doing right now.

"Naruto-san," Naruto paused, turning to look at the old Hokage. He doesn't seem much like the man she remembered, and she's beginning to realize much of her opinion of him was clouded from childish adoration. He wasn't her jiji any longer, he was her Hokage. She doesn't like the feeling this realization gives her. "From now are you are to be referred to as Uzumaki Michi. It would do well to start thinking of yourself as such. The Uzumaki Naruto from your dimension has ceased to exist."

Sarutobi turned to look out the window, ignoring Naruto's - Michi's - pained gasp at his words. He forged on. "I will need to take your hitai-ate."

Naruto's hand immediately flew up to the engraving of Konoha's leaf. Her fingers were trembling, and as was her voice when she said, "But I - I'll get it back, right? Once we've finished the mission?" She hated how weak and pathetic she sounded, but it was important to her. She knew, logically that she would have to toss the jumpsuit that she got from Jiraiya, her most precious piece of clothing, but she couldn't bear to part with Iruka's gift. It meant too much to her to ever lose it.

"You will get a new one once you return," Sarutobi said. "I assure you, we are not short on hitai-ates."

Naruto's stubbornness flared up, and she ignored his dry attempt at humour. "No," she insists. "It has to be this exact one. It's important to me."

Naruto hadn't informed them of how she got it, how Mizuki tricked her and of how Iruka came to her rescue. It was something that she hadn't wanted to change, because it was one of the biggest turning points in her life. On that night, the truth had been revealed; she had been told that the reason the village hated her was because she was a monster. Then because of Iruka, she learned that she was not the monster people believed her to be. Iruka was one of her very precious people, her brother in all but blood, but that is what makes him all the more precious; he chose to be her family, rather than had it shoved on him. As much as she is going to regret the wounds he will obtain at the hands of Mizuki, she can't bring herself to change her decision.

She's going to be in a whole world of trouble though, when Sarutobi realizes that she knew of a traitor in their midst but didn't warn anybody of it. She manages to keep the grimace off her face at the thought.

Sarutobi turns back to her, examining the metal of her hitai-ate for any wear and tear that gave hint to the fact that it wasn't new. But Iruka had taken great care of it, and Naruto had done the same after him. She was confident that there wouldn't be any marks.

He knows from the stubborn set of her jaw and the fire in her eyes that if he forces her to give it up than there will be dire consequences. Eventually, he says, "I will keep your hitai-ate safe for you until you return."

At his confirmation, Naruto unties her hitai-ate reluctantly. She runs her fingers over the leaf before handing it over to Sarutobi. The Hokage nods at her gravely, turning back to the window.

"I will call Uchiha Itachi, and our plans will be set into motion."

And for a fraction of a second, Naruto allows herself to glare the man's back with all the hurt that comes from being let down by a childhood hero. Once her petty indulgence to her feelings are over, she turns and leaves the room, shadowing Not-Kakashi's footsteps.


	3. restart

Naruto spared one last longing glance to the view of the Hokage Mountain out the window, silently begging her father to unexpectedly hirashin her out of this weird dimension. When no such help came, she turned to Not-Kakashi with a grimace. It was dark outside, much past midnight, and she was exhausted. Give her a war anyday, what had just happened in that office was the worst battle she had fought to date.

To prevent people from seeing her years before she was actually supposed to be in Konoha, Naru - Michi had henged into a rather plain looking girl with brown hair, brown eyes and tanned skin, which were common colouring in Hi no Kuni. To the people that passed her, her most remarkable trait would be the fact that she was so unremarkable her features were instantly forgotten even as she was being looked at.

Not-Kakashi gave her an approving nod (or at least Michi interpreted it as approving) before they headed out of the Hokage's office.

Michi took the opportunity to observe Not-Kakashi and document the changes between her sensei and the woman before her. There was the obvious gender difference, her face more feminine behind her mask and her figure different even under her bulky flack jacket. Her hair was longer, tied up into a spiky mess of a ponytail. She carried herself differently too. Gone was the lazy slouch that Michi had rarely seen her sensei without. Not to mention the fact that the porn, constantly held in Kakashi-sensei's hand, was missing.

Kakashi-sensei would still be in ANBU now, Michi remembered with a bad taste in her mouth. ANBU did weird things to people, bad things to people (even though they were totally awesome!). It would totally explain why Not-Kakashi was giving off slightly murderous vibes, not yet covered up by Kakashi-sensei's aloof and goofy demeanor. ANBU didn't exactly cultivate an outgoing personality.

The two of them were completely silent as they travel into the very depths of the Hokage Tower, something Michi was struggling very hard to do. It was hard not to talk! She didn't know how people did it.

Michi struggled to guess where they were heading to, before coming to the conclusion it was in the basement. It was a little known fact that there were more levels underneath the Hokage Tower than there were on top - under the tower laid the library, filled to the brim with all the information that was much too sensitive to be held in the public Konohan library.

Below that were training grounds, much sturdier than those open to other shinobi, made for the ANBU. They were decorated with seals that prevented damage and, on the off chance that the ANBU managed to cause damage (which was likely), seals that would reverse damage if enough chakra was pumped into them. Of course, they were courtesy of Uzumaki Mito.

And even further underneath were the most secure rooms in Konoha, made for those who couldn't fight during invasions or for those who need a place to stay without anybody knowing of the presence.

Michi, of course, wasn't supposed to know about any of this. She had never been an ANBU, and the only other people permitted to know about it were the Hokage and the jonin commander. But as a kid, Michi had frequented the Hokage tower, visiting so often that she knew it better than she did the Academy. Still, the only reason that she knew about it was probably due to Sarutobi's indulging her.

It was only on the lower training floors that Michi decided that the silence had gone on for much too long and she was much too bored. "Do you read Icha Icha?"

Michi was treated to the sight of Not-Kakashi freezing for a fraction of a second, something that would have been missed if she hadn't been looking. Michi laughed with glee. "You do! Ha, even in this dimension, you're a perv. Some things never change."

Not-Kakashi turned her head slightly to glare at her. Michi was delighted to find a hint of a blush decorating the tips of her ears. "So what if I do?" The older woman grumbled. "It's a good series," she eyed Michi curiously. "I didn't exactly peg you for the reading type."

A gamble for information. Though she had told the Hokage and her sensei what had happened during the war, she shared very little personal information (it was so hard! She just wanted to talk her, to share with Hokage-jiji and Kakashi like she could have in her dimension). Michi didn't see any harm in granting her that information. She knew way more about Not-Kakashi than Not-Kakashi knew about her, and it was probably frustrating her to no end.

"I'm not," she freely admitted. "I went on a training trip with Jiraiya when I was 13 though. I didn't know how to read all that well before I went, and he taught me how to read with those books. He made me edit for him."

Not-Kakashi hid her emotions well, but Michi had the advantage of knowing her for years, so however hard the woman tried, she wouldn't be able to hide the fact that she was surprised. "You didn't learn how to read until you were 13?"

Michi rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, completely embarrassed. "Nobody taught me. The orphanage I lived at didn't want much to do with me, and at the Academy it was pretty much the same. There was this one teacher that treated me fairly, but he only taught me in later years and we were already expected to be able to read by then."

Not-Kakashi accepted this answer, but she didn't look pleased. "How did you even pass the exam if you didn't know how to read?"

"It's 'cause I'm awesome," Michi informed her. She still wasn't going to tell anybody about the Mizuki debacle. Through all this shit, she figured it was fair if she got to be selfish just this once.

Not-Kakashi shook her head. "I will have to inform the Hokage that Naruto can't read," she said dryly.

Michi snorted. "Oh god, mini-me is going to be so pissed if he has to get a tutor to teach him how to read ."

Not-Kakashi didn't seemed very impressed with this, but didn't see fit to respond. Instead, she opened a door grandly, and with an eye smile said, "Welcome to your new home."

Ever so curious, Michi wandered into the hall. It was set up the same way an apartment would be, but it had the same interior as a bunker. Cement walls, sturdy doors, and no windows completed the impression that she was a prisoner rather than in hiding.

"Not very cheerful is it?" Michi turned around to comment to Not-Kakashi, only to find the door closing in her face. Not-Kakashi had already left.

Michi rolled her eyes. Typical.

She chose a door a random and flopped onto the bed. "Uzumaki Michi," she sounded out. "Ha. What a laugh. I should've called myself Menma after that bitch from the last alternate dimension," Michi rolled onto her stomach, trying to get comfortable on the bed. She gave up with an annoyed sigh.

"Happy 17th birthday, Uzumaki Michi ," she muttered into her pillow, wishing with all her heart that she could go back home.

* * *

"Do you believe her?" Kakashi greeted without preamble.

The Hokage was staring out the window at the stars, looking far too old. "It seems quite fantastical, does it not?" He said instead of replying. Kakashi waited patiently for him to continue. Her patience was rewarded a mere minutes later.

"I sensed a truth in her words," Sarutobi said gravely.

Kakashi pursed her lips, but said nothing. She was better at killing people than she was at reading people, so she would trust the Hokage's opinion on this. No matter how much she longed to discard it.

"Kakashi-san," and suddenly it was the Hokage standing before her instead of a weary old man. Kakashi stood at attention. "You will be alone with Uzumaki for years. She has nothing to bond her to this dimension, and that is a dangerous state for one with so much knowledge and power to be in. Make sure she sees fit to come back to Konoha."

Kakashi looked at the Hokage incredulously. Did I just get told to make friends? She thought, feeling very out of depth.

Sarutobi chuckled and turned to walk out the office. He patted Kakashi on the shoulder on his way out. "We've both had a long day," he said sounding rather joval for one that just had the world torn from under his feet. "I, for one, wish to retire for the night. I rather expect I will see you sometime tomorrow, Kakashi-san. I want a report of how Uzumaki is faring. You're on guard duty."

And with that, the Hokage was gone. Kakashi glared at his back. Great, she thought sourly. I get to babysit for the next however the fuck long.

The next morning, Kakashi traveled down to the secure rooms, intending to wake Michi. Not only did Kakashi have to get a sense of her fighting abilities, but the younger girl had to get used to the full amount of the Kyuubi's chakra running through her system.

She got down to the last level of the training rooms, already booked by Kakashi for the day, only to find that Michi had the same idea as her. She was running through chakra training techniques with a single minded intensity that was reminiscent of Gai at his most determined. Kakashi felt exhausted just looking at her.

Sighing, Kakashi settled down and leaned against a wall, observing with a keen eye as Michi steadily grew more and more frustrated with her chakra.

"Fuck! Fuck this and fuck Kurama for having so much fucking chakra!" Michi continued on with a litany of curses that might have caused Kakashi to blush if she had less of a reign over her facial expressions.

Michi made a hand sign and two dozen kage bunshins popped into existence. If possible, her face soured even more and she swore once again. "Fuck it I only meant to make six! You!" she pointed at one clone. "You're getting the supplies. And don't forget to henge!"

The clone replied with a, "Got it boss!" and quickly left the training ground, henging as she went.

"Ok," Michi declared, looking over her clones with a steely expression. "Our chakra control is worse than it's ever been. None of us are leaving this room until it's acceptable, got it?"

The clones cheered and they all enthusiastically ran at the walls, none of them getting any more than two steps up before they were blown away. Kakashi was faintly surprised that the wall hadn't exploded yet.

She idly wondered if working on chakra control with clones would work, but then shrugged the thought off. Michi would be figuring that out by the end of the day.

An hour later and many, many botched attempts at performing the tree walking exercise, Michi (or one of her clones) deigned it time to take a break.

"Hey, Not-Kakashi," Michi said cheerfully, collapsing in a heap beside her and uncorking her water bottle, guzzling down half of it in record time. "Do ya wanna ask me a buncha questions?"

Not-Kakashi blinked at her uncomprehendingly. Michi took this as a cue to explain. "Well since I know so much about you but you know diddly squat about me, I thought that you'd like to question me about more personal shit, not just what happened in the war or whatever."

Not-Kakashi raised brow. Or two, you could never tell with Kakashi. "How considerate."

Michi gave her signature smile, pointing her thumb at herself. "That's me! The nicest kunoichi you're ever gonna meet, 'ttebayo!"

"Hmm," Kakashi said, which really meant 'I have too many questions to know what to ask first.' "You spoke a little of your genin team. Tell me, what were they like?"

"You mean beyond our shit dumb luck and the terrible turns our missions took literally all the time?" Michi asked. At Kakashi's unimpressed look, she raised her hands in surrender. "Alright, fine. You asked for it.

"At first glance, we were exactly like your genin team. I think that's why you were so distant, for a while. We fit nicely into the basic characteristics. The dead last, the top kunoichi, and the rookie. But we're our own people, and even though I was a goof like Obito, or Sasuke was the antisocial genius like you, it didn't mean we were exactly alike. Take Sakura for example! I've honestly never met anybody with worse anger issues. Sure, she's a great medic-nin, but she has worse anger issues than Tsunade, and just a mean of a right hook. And Sasuke! Man, that guy raised more red flags on his psych evals than you ever could. Me and Obito… well at least I was never late."

Kakashi, who had shut down at the beginning of her speech, forced a lightly teasing tone to her voice. "So what I'm hearing is that I was a terrible jounin sensei?"

Michi snorted. "Well I'm pretty sure they dragged you in just because you shared the sharingan with Sasuke and you worked with a Jinchuuriki before, not because of your exceptional skill with children. You were better with teaching Sasuke and Sakura because they understood right away. I just needed more help with the basics, but once I got those down you weren't bad."

Kakashi nodded in acceptance. She observed the clones for a minute, before asking, "Why is it that you're simply practicing chakra control? Would your time not be better served by trying to understand the other abilities you must have gotten from absorbing so much of the Fox's chakra?"

Michi started picking at her clothes, a fresh wave of sorrow hitting her for the loss of her partner. "Me and Kurama teamed up lots," she started. "I already know about some of the stuff that I can do with his help. Plus…" she hesitated.

Kakashi raised a brow. "Plus?"

"Well, you know how I met the Sage of Six Paths? He gave me a gift."

"The Sage of Six Paths gave you a gift," Kakashi said blankly.

"Yeah, it lets me understand things real fast. It's kinda dumb but whatever."

It was that moment that the clone walked into the room, holding two large bags, one filled with a ton of water balloons and the other balls. Kakashi felt a flash of understanding - the rasengan, normally such a taxing jutsu, would be little more than a chakra control exercise for Michi. Her lips thinned at the painful reminder of her sensei.

Michi jumped up and gave a loud whistle to get the attention of her clones. "Alright ladies, you know what to do. Come and get your supplies!"

Kakashi sighed and pulled out her book, settling down for a long day of watching Michi train. Michi got to work with a small smile on her face. Talking to Kakashi, even though she was Not-Kakashi was always nice. The small smile turned into a full-blown laugh when she noticed the woman with her bright orange book.

* * *

Sarutobi looked up from his paperwork. "Jiraiya," he greets the figure in his window. "I have a job for you."

Jiraiya settled down into the seat across from him, grumbling. "You always have jobs for me. What do you want this time old man?"

Sarutobi leant forward, his dark eyes deadly serious. "Tell me everything you know about the Akatsuki."


End file.
